This module is part of a growing collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate.
The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues.
The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including:
general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science,
social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.Explore the Collection »

multiple reviews to ensure the materials meet the InTeGrate materials rubric which codifies best practices in curricular development, student assessment and pedagogic techniques.

review by external experts for accuracy of the science content.

This page first made public: Jun 24, 2014

Summary

In this two to three week module, students explore short-term climate variability resulting from atmosphere-ocean-ice interactions. The module promotes awareness of past and contemporary cultures and regions strongly affected by permanently altered or increasingly uncertain climates as students consider human adaptation to climate fluctuations. Students investigate the dynamics and impacts associated with climate variability by examining and analyzing atmosphere, ocean, and ice data; completing a series of readings; and engaging in group discussions. Materials and teaching descriptions for gallery walks, interactive discussions, group work, and lab exercises are provided.

Strengths of the Module

This module has a positive focus on adaptations to climate change. Activities provide students opportunities to think locally, regionally, and globally. They drive thinking about climate change and social vulnerability. This leads to better informed citizens, empowered to make more responsible decisions. See an example adaptation activity.

Students use real, current ocean, atmosphere, and ice data to learn about climate change. Activities provide concrete ways to learn abstract concepts like uncertainty, anomalies, and feedback. Students consider questions about climate and society for which they can't Google the answer. See an example data-rich activity.

Activities get students out of their chairs. A diverse suite of activities (gallery walks, games, discussions, lab exercises, and small-group activities) provides students opportunities to be involved. This engages quieter students, and both professors and students have fun! See an example role-playing activity.

A great fit for courses in:

This module is appropriate for introductory-level science and social science courses. The module is designed to stand alone and can be easily adapted to many class sizes and formats (large- or small-enrollment classes, online/distance learning courses, and interdisciplinary courses). To facilitate versatility, the module includes six individual units with lab/homework and short in-class activities. These individual units are also designed to stand alone. With some modification, the module could also be adapted to upper-division courses in those fields.

This module is part of a growing collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate.
The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues.
The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including:
general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science,
social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.Explore the Collection »

Page Text

This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

Images

Provenance

Sean Fox, Carleton College

Reuse

This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

Provenance

Sean Fox, Carleton College

Reuse

This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

Provenance

Reuse

This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.